Inside Out

Everything in nature is bruised and worn. This is how each tree and hill gets its beauty. We are no different.

Inside Out

I was taken aback, when
joining a fitness club, at
the history of my body: a
rib removed, torn ligaments
in an ankle, torn muscle in a
knee, torn meniscus in the
other, arthritic thumbs, a
skull bone worn thin
by a tumor.

At first, I felt battered,
but smiled to realize that
I stand like a small cliff
worn full of holes in which
stray birds nest and I wake
with the dreams they have
while resting in me.

Each question carried
for a lifetime opens
like a hole worn in stone
through which the wind
finally sings.

A Question to Walk With: Begin to describe the history of your own body and how life has shaped you.

For more poetry for the soul, click here.

For more by Mark Nepo, click here.